A couple years back we had a subscription to Gourmet magazine, which always had killer recipes and foodie stuff. I was reading last June’s when an interesting advertisement caught my eye. Mostly by the sweet Weber grill on the opposite page, but the title of the other page was “Way To Barbecue Meat Loaf” I was intrigued, being both a fan of BBQing and Meatloaf. I tried it and was amazed at how good it was. I couldn’t find that magazine (til after I had already put this meatloaf on the grill) and my wife dug it out for me. I compared the recipe and apparently I have ingrained it in my memory, because I didn’t miss any of the important ingredients. I improved and added a few that I think have mad it mo’bettah.

I stopped off at Oliver’s Market Cotati to pick up the stuff I didn’t already have, picked up the ground pork and the ground round. I got the grass-fed ground round instead of the regular old “ground chuck.” I also grabbed some Mustard Greens and a block of Havarti (see Adult-Mac-n-Cheese). I had the onion, garlic and fresh herbs.

In a large stainless steel mixing bowl combine pork and beef, chop up the onion and garlic, throw in bowl, splash in 3 big dashes of Worcestershire sauce, about a teaspoon of kosher salt, a few grinds of fresh cracked black pepper, sneak in some cayenne. Finely chop basil, thyme and oregano put that in the bowl. Then crack 1 egg and add 1 cup of panko crumbs. Mix thoroughly with your hands, a fork just won’t do the trick, you gotta get this stuff under your fingernails! Once the mixture is ready no panko crumbs left around the edges, form the meat mixture into a ball and place on a chopping board or baking sheet.

Pat firmly into a loaf shape, you want this to be durable since your putting it directly on the grill.

Formed up and ready to go on the grill

Oh, did I mention by this point you should have your charcoal ready to go? No, crap, sorry! You know the drill, prep your Weber for indirect grilling. Place meatloaf on hot side of grill to sear the bottom. We will only sear one side this time. After searing (about 5 minutes) move loaf to opposite side of grill for indirect cooking, you should close vents to about half-open, cooking time for the meatloaf will be close to 1 hour.

Meatloaf on the grill

I saw a recipe on Natalie Maclean’s site the other day for Adult Macaroni and Cheese. I have always been a big fan of making your own mac, so I decided to pair my meatloaf with some really good Mac. I had prepped some spiral noodles earlier, while I was mixing up the meatloaf. Shred about 4 – 6 oz each Cheddar, Havarti, and Jack. I would have used Gouda too, but I didn’t see any in the cool box and I was in a hurry so didn’t look really hard. Anyhow, preheat the oven to 350F, then in a 9×9 pan toss the pasta with the shredded cheese and mix with about 1/3 cup half-and-half. I topped my Mac with some slices of deli pancetta. Cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes remove foil and put back in oven for another 10 minutes at 375F.

I love cooked greens. Unfortunately the wife doesn’t so occasionally I just make them for my own self! Oliver’s had some nice fresh organic Mustard greens, I almost got Collard. I prepared these as follows. I unbundled the greens and rinsed thoroughly with cold water (get them organic bugs off). Shake most of the water off, but don’t dry them completely.

Fresh Organic Mustard Greens

In a large skillet heat up about 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Chop greens into 2 inch strips. I think that in previous times I’ve cut out the stalk, but I didn’t this time. Anyhow, once the oil is hot grab about half of the greens and place in the skillet, throw in a dash of salt. As they start cooking they will begin to wilt and shrink down quickly, the left over water helps to steam them. Place the remaining greens in the skillet and cook until they have fully wilted, but not so much they get mushy. I added about 2 tablespoons of white balsamic vinegar for added flavor.

[…] been thinking about this since after last week’s dinner, or at least since Saturday, last week’s meatloaf was killer (so were leftovers). Anyhow, half of the challenge of these is finding the proper motivation. […]